The Limits of Control: Neo-Liberal Policy Priorities and The US Non-Immigrant Flow Philip Kretsedemas* Several scholars have drawn attention to the contrary way that advanced, industrialized nations have attempted to regulate global flows of trade and migration; seeking to liberalize the former and control the latter (Castells, 2000; Falk, 1999; Sassen, 1996). The US immigra- tion policies of the September 11th era are as good an example as any of these countervailing tendencies. It is important to note, however, that strategies for controlling immigration do not always result in the restriction of migration flows. In fact, most US migrant flows have expanded over the course of the past several decades, irrespective of the ‘‘War on Terror,’’ the imposition of new restrictions on immigrant rights and unprecedented spending on bor- der control. As I observe in this article, these apparently divergent trends – the liberalization of migrant flows and the intensification of immigration enforcement – are closely related to one another. Before entering into the analysis, it is necessary to complicate the distinction that is often made between the flow of capital and the flow of people. Instead of presuming that economic globalization has acted on these flows in substantially different ways, it is possible to see how it has blurred their distinguishing features. Hence, it can be argued that some migrant flows have been expanded precisely because they are being treated as if they were a form of capital. In this regard, the expansion of migrant flows does not necessarily coincide with a post- national vision for a new global society but with a narrower, utilitarian orientation that is characteristic of neo-liberal economic priorities. In the remainder of the article I develop this argument by examining some of the policies and practices that have been used to expand and police US migrant flows. My analysis is focused on the non-immigrant flow, which is composed of all of those persons who enter the United States with a temporary legal status including tourists, business visitors, and persons admitted with work visas (among others). Critical research on migration and immigration enforcement has largely focused on ‘‘illegal’’ populations (De Genova, 2005; Lee, 2008; Spencer, 1992). Other research that has not been specific to ‘‘illegal’’ populations has still tended to focus on the situation of low skilled, low wage workers (Burawoy, 1976; Chalcraft, 2005; Catanzarite, 2000). This article, in contrast, contributes to a relatively new body of research which examines how state policy, immigration enforcement and labour market recruitment practices have been used to regulate flows of mostly high skilled migrants. (Banerjee, 2010; Neumayer 2006; Rosenzweig, 2006). But unlike these prior studies, which have examined particular categories of high skilled migrants, this * Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Boston. Ó 2011 The Author Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., International Migration Ó 2011 IOM 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK, International Migration Vol. 50 (S1) 2012 and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0020-7985 doi:10.1111/j.1468-2435.2011.00696.x